Rumor: HTC Windows 8 tablet already in production, coming later this year

HTC has always been a big partner of Microsoft. They’ve been onboard with Windows Phone since the beginning in 2010, but the history goes back deeper than that. They started out making devices for other companies (running Windows Mobile) and took off when they started to produce devices under their own name. With the upcoming ‘Blue’ update across a variety of Microsoft platforms it’s becoming harder and harder for OEMs to build a Windows Phone and not have a corresponding tablet running Windows 8 to complement it.

NPD DisplaySearch, a market research and consulting firm, believes that HTC is working on a tablet running Windows 8.

Analysts at NDP DisplaySearch propose the suspect a display made by LG at 10.1 inches and with a full HD display (1920 x1080 / 218 pixels per inch). They go onto speculate that the device would be assembled by Pegatron and think production already began in the first quarter.

While we don’t like to speculate on the inner thoughts of an analyst too much, this one was too hard to pass up since a lot of you like HTC and would probably like a tablet from them. What would you want to see in a device from HTC?

It’s totally possible that production has already began on the device. Build is coming up at the end of June in San Francisco and Microsoft typically gives out smartphones and tablets for developers to begin development of applications. That means we might not see a new Surface product till later in the year.

It’s becoming increasingly harder for companies like HTC and Nokia to ignore the tablet space. Both companies have been rumored to have tablets in the pipelines (and some even officially acknowledging their existence).

Win8 RT tablets won't take off until MSFT or the major OEMs like Dell, Lenovo, etc get serious about bringing a $299 8" tablet to market. RT simply doesn't sell $399+. I don't think 10" $399 takes off until Bay Trail is ready...

Still too expensive. Too many legit options for the typical consumption user for $199 and less. Between Kindle Fire, Nook, and Nexus 7, you have to be willing to compete with them. Similar to how the netbook, while crappy and disposable, still drove PC sales and drove the price of other laptops/desktops down as a result. Consumers, particularly during tough economic times, need low cost options. Simply put, trying to sell an WindowsRT tablet at its launch for more than a Kindle Fire of similar size isn't going to make many friends. Less content to currently consume on RT. Hopefully this will change with Blue and the release of Catwalk and Laser with W8/WP8 getting an actual push from carriers.

Anybody remember or even heard of the HTC Shift UMPC? It was a touch screen tablet like device that (when stock) ran Windows Vista and a locked down version of Windows Mobile 6.1 (had cellular and all) simutaniously. You could hack it to 6.5.3 and run Windows 7 (and even Win8 I believe) but it had a crap battery I heard. I've always wanted one. It was pretty much like a giant Touch Pro2.

HTC although struggling, has produced a quality phone in the One. If they could build a tablet version of it in the 7" size with winRT and pitch it to customer-facing businesses I think it would be successful.

Aside from acknowledging it, did we get any more info on Nokia's tablet? I'd love it of either HTC or Nokia released a W8 tablet. I might even be able to actually buy one, which is already more than what I can say about the surface. Not even an RT, for crying out loud...

There's a new "Bay Trail" Atom coming out that has an implementation of HD4000. What you get is a GPU that can decode a 1080p stream at 60 frames per second while using just five percent of the CPU's power. It'll be available as a SoC with 1, 2 or 4 cores. There's a "T" variant targeted at tablets.

I'm not sure if even Bay Trail will have enough graphical power to run apps at 1080p (especially 2 apps side by side at half 1080p), and I can't see them making a tablet like the surface pro because that is not really a big market, nor is it HTC's normal market. HTC won't want to be selling it for any more than $400 at a stretch to get sales. I think this will need to be ARM for HTC to deliver a 1080p device with decent battery life in a 10.1" frame that hopefully won't weigh too much and is cheap to produce. This year's crop of ARM chips are more than capable of achieving this, they have several times more graphical power than devices like the surface.

I loved HTC prior to Windows Phone 8. I had a mogul, then it's sucessor; loved them and their WinMo. Had a HD7 and loved it too. All these devices had great build quality and ruggedness. Then the 8x, which broke after being dropped. Wasn't used to that.

I would buy an HTC W8 tablet in a heartbeat, provided it is considerably less than the surface. I love my surface pro, but cannot justify the price for getting one for my wife, who is a casual user.

....and yet another bit of BS misrepresentation about Blue slipped into an alleged news story. Once again, Blue is a series of updates across platforms with only idle speculation claiming any deeper meaning. It is not a unifying update across platforms - just a common schedule for platform updates. Actually even that is specilative since there have been no substantive announcements. Blue does not in any way make it harder to ignore tablets when building Windows Phones since there is 1) no proof it unifies anything, and 2) HTC is hardly making a big push with Windows Phone. It only takes a few minutes to check one's logic but I guess those are a few minutes too many. How about just once presenting only the facts or leaks, without the added layer of ill informed misinformation about other things?

If you ask me HTC needs to focus on doing what works for them - which at the moment is android.
Yes, the 8x and 8s are good phones, but their pathetic support for these devices show they're not really a priority for them right now.
Why make a tablet and diversify even more an already muddled strategy?

What I Would Like to See with a Windows 8 Tablet from HTC is that HTC build a Windows 8 Pro Tablet that's 10" or better with 1080P, a Quad Core 2.5GHZ CPU, a 1.5GB Video Chip, accessible Ram that can be Upgraded as well as the SSD, a Micro SDXC Card slot, 2 USB 3.0 connectors, 1 Mini HDMI out port, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi AC or higher, raised edges just like their previous tablest to protect the screen if it's turned over, True World LTE Connectivity, video playback of about 12 hours, 1080P Video Recording from Rear Camera, Split Screen capability for Skype to be able to show both Front and Rear Cameras to the other person, the Same Quality of Sound that the HTC Jetstream has also with the Subwoofer included, GPS, and a Kickstand sort of like what the Microsoft Surfact Tablet has, but an adjustable Kickstand to be able to change the Viewing angles.

I am totally pleased with my 8X, which came shipped yesterday. Hopefully HTC will and can make a suitable tablet device, and please: 10 inch plus with 1080 resolution! My phone screen has 4.3 inches, so I don’t need a small 7-inch tablet …

Interesting, if HTC made a Hi-Res 10"~12" tablet with 3G\4G , Minimum of 32GB of storage (SD slot would be awesome) , Aluminum body & build quality that can match the iPad & Motorola Xoom ! I'll be really tempted to get one to replace my Xoom !
But if it turned out of be a 7"~8" I'll pass ...